"The Yellow Wallpaper" POV

In Charlotte Gillman’s tragic short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Gillman skillfully creates a living world to highlight the importance of self-expression. Strongly written in a first-person narration point of view, the reader is able to understand the thoughts and actions from a specific character. By writing in this point of view the readers are able to get a more realistic perspective towards the deterioration of the narrators state of mind, and are introduced to a more developed plot. The authors use of first person to tell the story allows readers to have a better understanding of how the narrator slowly descends into madness. The narrator’s condition is described by her family to simply be stresses and suffering from “temporary nervous depression”. Although with the addition of the characters thoughts the readers are able to notice a stronger shift toward madness rather than suffering from anxiety. Further evidence is seen when the narrator attempts to describe the wallpaper. She sees in the wallpaper, “a broken neck and two bulbous eyes [that] stare at you upside down” which may not seem like very important until the narrator tells the audience she struggles to think straight. Ultimately, giving the the readers a better insight toward the inside of the narrators thoughts gives direct evidence to support the fall of the woman's sanity. Furthermore, the story’s connection with the audience adds a new element for the plot. Gillman’s utilization of first person by using phrases such as “I’m getting really fond of the room in spite of the wallpaper. Perhaps because of the wallpaper” this gives the readers important insight related to what the narrator feels and thinks of her situation, developing the plot of the story. Although the readers where only limited to the thoughts of the narrator, the scenario Gillman created made it a necessity for a narrator. Gillman’s attempt of a first person point of view connected the story to the reader, and in return gave